America's Most Underrated City

It's that time of the year where Indianapolis takes center stage again - on ABC Sunday afternoon, to be specific. Forbes recently ran an article touting Indy as the most underrated, partly due to being the 35th largest city yet hangs with the elite, in terms of things like value, food, sports, steak, golf, and unique activities.  You might think it's weird to list both steak and food, plus golf and sports, but when you're ranked at the top of your class, you gotta give it its own press.

Sports: 

• #1 football stadium (LucasOil)
• #1 basketball stadium (Fieldhouse)
• #1 Superbowl experience (2012)
• #1 sporting event (Indy 500)
• #1 Final Four host (8 times)
• #1 NFL Combine host
• NBA All-Star 2021 2024 host
• BCS Championship 2022 host 
• Annual NCAA Championships for Swimming, Gymnastics, Track & Field. And best of all...

Golf

• Pete Dye courses (The Fort, The Brickyard, Maple Creek)
• PGA events (Crooked Stick)
• #2 city for public golf courses (Fishers)
• #1 rated public course (Eagle Creek) & only $25 w/ cart after 3pm. Speaking of value...

Value

• Top-10 hottest destination in 2018 (Conde Nast)
• Top-50 places to travel in 2017 (Travel and Leisure)
• Luxury hotels (Conrad, Alexander) cheaper than Nashville, Cincy, Minny, & KC
• #1 convention center 
• #1 airport in North America (ACI)
• mansion-like homes listed as the most affordable in the nation (sq/ft)
• #1 in downtown walkability, including covered skyway to hotels and...

Food

• Most Underrated Food City (Conde Nast)
• Top-7 most impressive city (Thrillist)
• Top-20 US Food city (Food & Wine)
• Top-15 Hottest Food Cities (Zagat)
• the Martha Hoover empire
• exploding brewery scene with award-winning craft beers (SunKing, DareDevil's LiftOff)
• the Kimbal Musk empire & farm-2-table movement, which may or may not include...

Steak

• Award-winning St. Elmo's
• Renowned: Prime 47, Char Blue, Red the Steakhouse
• Other Favorites: Shula’s, Ruth’s Chris, McCormick & Schmick’s, Morton’s, Capital Grille, Hyde Park Prime

Unique Activities

• Children's Museum, Medical History Museum and NCAA HQ
• Award-winning Indianapolis Zoo
• Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, Newfields (IMA), and Lilly House
• World's largest mini Marathon
• White River, Monon Trail, Pogues Run, Downtown Canal
• more war memorials than any other city outside DC, including the USS Indianapolis
• Eagle Creek, Geist Resevior

FANTASMA

If you're a stock investor, you've probably seen the FANG acronym being used. Google is now Alphabet so it needs a revision. Allow me to sprinkle some § flair on Jim Cramer's original by adding some other can't-pass-up tech stocks:

Facebook Amazon Netflix Tesla Apple Salesforce Microsoft Alphabet

So there you have it, FANTASMA. My new favorite word is actually a Spanish word for GHOST or PHANTOM.  Hmm, Indy happens to be home to a certain Pro Bowler who calls himself the Ghost. And he wears a spooky number that supposed to be unlucky. But the horseshoe hung upside-down represents luck and the guy feeding him the ball is named Luck! Just like (another "Indy")  ND up-state uses the clover, which when found as 4 petals (Four Horsemen? Horses again!) means luck! And a Leprechaun with his lucky charms and a pot of gold!! 

What does all this mean?
Duh. Bet on Colts to win the Superbowl. Almost all the pieces are there (still missing rOL and ILB) and we've got the GOAT (AV) and Ghost (TY). The Vegas odds are at +4000. Put $125 down to get $5k? That's the price of a single lower-level seat. Are you willing to make that sacrifice?